Hacker News Reader

Comment by OskarS | Hacker News Reader

I always wonder about stories like this what the internal process that lead to this insane overreaction was. At some point, did someone really make the decision "lets send Pinkertons to this guy's house, risking an enormous publicity backlash"? It's easy to blame "the legal department" for stuff like this, but it seems extreme even for the most zealous attorney.

My hunch is that they probably have some kind of security contract with the Pinkertons to safeguard secrets, and the Pinkertons acted on their own. Hasbro/WotC has done some sketchy stuff recently, but this seems extreme even for them.

View on HN

> and the Pinkertons acted on their own

Play Pinkerton games, win Pinkerton prizes.

Or, less flippantly: everyone knows who the Pinkertons are and what they do. And the fact that everyone knows is, quite literally, the actual service that they offer. They will do such things without you have to explicitly tell them.

I have literally never heard of this group. "Pinkerton" is the name of a Weezer album as far as I'm concerned.

They have an outright ominous reputation from their historical involvement in violently suppressing the labor movement in the US. Because they’re still corporate security, they’ve kept this reputation as corporate goons for hire.

You should probably read up on some history. They have played a pivotal role (as the antagonists) in the labor movement in the United States. They were involved in some of the largest insurrections after the Civil War. Their name is scattered throughout American history, and not for their good deeds.

100%

Movies and TV often sow them as a policing the West in the early days of the US but what they should be known for is as thugs and strike breakers for hire who intimidate and threaten whoever you ask while providing distance and cover.

https://xkcd.com/1053/

Aside from the xkcd, this 'everybody knows' effect can be domain specific. The people who hired the pinkertons, and any party interested in stealing corporate secrets, know who they are.

I doubt most people do know the name. If you're not into westerns and haven't read about the history of the labor movement or of US law enforcement (and they sure as shit don't teach those things in most schools, so you'd have to find it out on your own) you could easily go through life without ever learning who they were/are.

> Hasbro/WotC has done some sketchy stuff recently, but this seems extreme even for them.

I'm told their security executive used to be a pinkerton.

If true, that explains a lot.

This sort of response appears deranged to outsiders, but would be completely logical if you rationalize it as calling in a favor from your former colleagues. For someone like that, it's not a vulgar display of force-- it's just another Tuesday. Optics are overlooked in favor of ease.

> My hunch is that they probably have some kind of security contract with the Pinkertons to safeguard secrets, and the Pinkertons acted on their own

This is almost certainly the case, but Pinkerton was acting as agents of WotC here, so WotC are the ones ultimately responsible.

For sure. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I was just saying I'm always curious about what the processes are in companies that lead to these disastrous results.

I feel bad for the possible guy in the room who said “Guys this seems like a bit much….” and then had to hear the response…

Reply on news.ycombinator.com